Flying

Scientist's Seek Smoother

Passengers Cannot Yet Travel At High Speeds in New Jet-Propelled Aircraft

MANY of the world’s aviation secrets have been held, at one time or another, behind the guarded walls and hedges of the Royal Air craft Establishment at Farnborough, 32 miles south-west of London, . To day, the Establishment is investi gating for the United Kingdom Government a phenomenon known to the scientists as “The Gust Case.”

When an ordinary airliner, travel ling at the present common speeds of 200 to 250 miles an hour, hits an air bump in a cloud, or when flying in turbulent and stormy air, all that happens, in all but the really excep tional case, is a relatively gentle lurch. The whole business comes under the heading of an unpleasant nuisance rather than a real danger to life and limb.

The development of jet engines, however, means that erasing speeds of 450 and 500 miles per hour are being planned and heights of 30,000 and 40,000 feet are now scheduled to carry the airliners of the not far distant future.

At these speeds the air bump will certainly not be a steady lurch, but a violent kick, or worse. The differ ence of the impact with an air gust between the ordinary type of present twin-engined passenger plane and a very modern fast one may be 250 m.p.h.; and smacking into disturbed air at nearly 10 miles a minute is enough to break both aircraft and passenger.

Spitfire Supplies the Data SO, several times a week, a Spitfire aircraft, is now taking off from the Farnborough airfield. To look at, it is an ordinary Spitfire of the type which became so familiar during World War 11, but, inside, there is an array of special instruments which record the weight, frequency and rate of build-up of gusts up to a height of 30,000 feet or more.

Each flight adds fresh data which is forwarded to a committee, pre sided over by Air Vice-Marshal Sir Basil Embry, which includes famous scientists, designers and Government officials who realise that, until “the gust case” is conquered, high sneed high altitude flying may be frus trated.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Ministry of Supply has also stated that work on the effects of gusts on civil aircraft and their passengers will soon be started by British Airline Corpora tions. As an interim measure a Lancaster has been fitted up with a device which may soften down the gust impact. If this works it will be fitted into Britain’s 350 m.p.h. 130ton giant jet liner, the Bristol Brabazon I.

How soon you will be able to fly at 500 m.p.h. may depend upon that

little Spitfire carrying out the experi ments and the findings of the scientific committee now meeting in London.